The University of Redlands, a private liberal arts institution based in California has conferred the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree to Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje on March 24, 2015.
The honorary degree awarded by the University's President Dr. Ralph W. Kuncl in the presence of the students and teachers of Redland said, "We are honored that His Holiness the Karmapa has chosen to visit the University of Redlands to re-unite with our faculty and students and share his vision of education, social justice, and peace,'' Kuncl said. "His leadership has shaped lives, not only for those of our students and faculty he taught, but for millions worldwide."
University of Redlands Provost Dr. David Fite said, "The University is proud to bestow the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters upon His Holiness in recognition of his deep commitment to building a compassionate world by illuminating and encouraging the interconnections that unite us across differences of language, culture, religion, or worldview. By welcoming two groups of University of Redlands students to learn from him at his temporary home of Gyuto Monastery in India, His Holiness inspired our students to define a meaningful life. He models for us how the efforts of one person to work for environmental protection, gender justice and intentional use of resources in a consumer-driven globalized world inspires our entire University of Redlands community."
After the conferment of the Honorary degree, Karmapa addressed a sold-out crowd of 1700 students of the university on the topic, “Interdependent Nature of Reality” followed by a question and answer session.
Aside from Redland University, Karmapa has addressed the prestigious Stanford University and is scheduled to visit Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and the University of Wisconsin in the coming days.